Living the past couple of years as a person with a pixie cut, I have had a lot of people ask me the following question: "Did you just not like your long hair?" Let me answer this question once and for all: kind of... When I had really long hair (up until junior year of high school), I really liked it - I could put it up in a ponytail or channel my inner Katniss Everdeen by braiding it and letting it fall down my neck, gracefully. However, after a while, I got really sick of having long hair. Yes, at first, I tried getting bangs, more layers, and even got a couple of inches cut off, but nothing really made a difference. I was determined, then, to get a pixie cut. So, one day after school, I went to the salon.

Let me just say that getting a pixie cut is a lot to get used to. I had had shoulder-length to waist-length tresses my entire life. Before I went to the hairstylist, I had searched high and low through Pinterest to find pictures of what I wanted my hair to look like. But nothing prepared me for the end result; the moment I looked into the mirror, I saw this:

No, no, I did not miraculously age 30 years. This is just a literal picture of what I imagined I saw when I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

In reality, I looked more like this:

After paying the salon's receptionist, I will admit it: I cried. I quickly paid the nice lady and hasted out the front door to cry in peace. Other than literally being connected to my hair by the hair follicle, I felt as if a part of me was gone once it was cut off...

Here's the happy part of my story:

After a couple of weeks of my hair growing out and learning how to style it, I realized that I loved having short hair. I could only describe it as freeing.

It's something to get used to for sure, but once you do, you can rock it!

I took a leap of faith and put my hair's life into my hairstylist's hands, but I discovered that I loved having short hair. (PS: I still do!)

Here's a little "hair-spiration" if you want to join the "pixie haircut" club:

If you feel like you could never get a pixie cut because you have a round face, don't fret. Just look at Jennifer Lawrence:

She absolutely kills it! Additionally, her "in-between" stage of going from pixie to bob is somehow not awkward-looking at all... Lucky duck.

For those of you with incredibly thick hair, choose something like Shailene Woodley's:

Talk about chic--and drastic. Do you remember how incredibly long and beautiful her hair was before she chopped it? Well, it still looks beautiful, with the layered bang and the other side that's slicked back and tucked behind her ear.

For all you wavy-haired girls, Charlize Theron's got your back:

This Oscar-winning woman looks stunning and with her relaxed, wavy pixie cut.

For those of you who don't want a super short pixie cut:

Having long bangs will make you feel like you still have long hair (at least from the front). It will ease you into the whole "pixie cut" hairstyle.

And my favorite... Ginnifer Goodwin:

She was the reason that I got it cut to a short pixie AGAIN after growing out my hair down to my collarbone. I was watching Once Upon A Time, unable to stop looking up pictures of her haircut and imagining what it would be like to have short hair again.

Here are my parting words of wisdom for you all: If you feel confident with your new 'do, it doesn't matter what others think.

Haters gonna hate.